Illuminating Ceremonies

Our wedding planner recommended Chris and we’re so happy she did! Chris is really clever and a great writer. Chris put together a ceremony for us that was funny, entertaining, touching and truly unique and personal. He really got our guests energized to be part of our wedding and did a great job of telling our story. Chris also encouraged us to write our own vows and helped us with that process. Chris is professional, talented and puts a lot of effort into getting to know his clients. Our friends and family could not stop talking about Chris and we could not have been more happy with the ceremony. Book him if you can!

This review is long overdue (sorry Chris, didn’t know you had a Unilocal page!!). It was around this time last year I started that dreaded search for a wedding officiant. I looked on all the wedding websites (the knot, wedding wire, etc.), and messaged probably about 80% of them for services for my September 2014 wedding. Most were booked, some were too expensive, some had weird charges like paying for their child’s babysitter, then we came across Christopher Shelley. He wrote me back almost immediately and we agreed to meet in the city and go over our wedding itinerary. What we thought would be a quick 45 minute sit down/​meet and greet turned into a 3 ½ hour chat about life and all the funny things that come along with it. After that nice talk, we hired Chris. His process for his ceremonies is fun and painless. We had such good communication with him. Fast forward to our wedding day. I think Chris was more excited about our ceremony area than we were (we got married at Citi Field). His voice was amplified throughout the entire stadium. He made the ceremony so special with all his beautifully written words. Everyone thought he was a family friend in the way he spoke about our story. It was awesome. He was fantastic. If he is available for your special event, please, do yourself the favor and book him fast. We thank you so so so much Chris for all the amazing work, we hope you had just as much fun as we did on our wedding day! Thank you again!

Chris was easily the best part of our wedding.
Chris delivered an amazingly accurate, personal, fun and humorous ceremony with all the professionalism and confidence you’d expect from a professional.
Our guests all loved the ceremony and we are still getting comments on how great he was. He spent the time to get to know us and prepared a ceremony that was so personal without being cliché. From the moment I arrived at the alter I could not wipe the smile off my face because we just had so much fun up there. I literally laughed and smiled the entire 25 min that flew by for myself and for the guests as it was just so much fun.
Chris spent the time before the wedding getting to know us individually and having us answer questionnaires to really get to the grit of what made us work together, hence allowing him to deliver a service that was touching and a great reflection of us. All our guests commented on how great it was and many have requested his services in Australia (where many of the guests traveled from).
Being Australian our weddings are a little more casual and relaxed and Chris nailed us and our brief perfectly. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

Chris was really a dream to work with. We had an incredibly short timetable to work with. Not only did he pull it off, everyone loved it!
In that short period of time, Chris really got to know us and offered incredibly helpful suggestions without ever being pushy.
His storytelling was just the right amounts of charming, funny, and heartwarming. I couldn’t imagine a better ceremony.
If you can manage to have him officiate at your wedding, do it!

Chris was awesome. He came through for us last minute and was a life saver. We had a situation where we decided it would be better if our friend didn’t officiant our wedding and called on Chris 3 months out. He was quick to respond and meet with us. He gave us a detailed interview to find out about us. He was hired! I was impressed. Then he gave us a questionnaire which made me think about every reason I wanted to marry my now husband. It made me realize how wonderful our relationship is and why I love him. I also love that I’ll have our answers to the questionnaires forever. It’s nice to know whenever we go through a rough time I can look at this and remember why we fell in love and what is important. Chris rocked the ceremony. I was super nervous (and a few cocktails in) and he handled it like a champ… He was quick, witty, and helped to make me look «cute» and «funny» instead of a complete idiot. I was complemented on my decision to use Chris all night and the following weeks. I’m still hearing how it was the «best ceremony» my friends and family have ever been to. Chris is fun, quick, charming and super professional. If we had to do it over we would still pick Chris. Hire this guy.

We had an untraditional ceremony in Central Park on St. Patrick’s Day. Christopher did a great job in making it special and intimate. His words about my husband and I made me cry. He was wonderful at communicating with me about my needs and wants. I would recommend him for anyone who wants to get married in NYC!